What Do College Students Think About Safe Spaces?

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Safe spaces, whether you agree with them or not, have grown in popularity recently and have become a contentious talking point.

In recent years, the increasing number of safe spaces on college campuses throughout the United States has been celebrated by many. Conversely, the safe space explosion has also been chastised in many circles.

LendEDU was curious to see how college students, the main benefactors of safe spaces, felt about it.

After all, safe spaces are formed for university students, right?

We see college presidents at prestigious universities call safe spaces necessary. But, we also see other presidents at other schools call for the end of safe spaces.

But, what do the students want? College campuses are enlivened by students, all of that beautiful landscaping is paid for by students, and universities become renowned because of students.

So, enough of hearing about what everyone thinks is best for college campuses, safe spaces or not. Let us hear what students, the lifeblood of each and every university, think about safe spaces on their own campuses.

College Students Practically Split on Safe Spaces

LendEDU asked 1,659 current college students the following question: “Do you agree with college campuses establishing safe spaces?”

The results to our survey were practically split down the middle.

A slight majority, 37 percent, of current college students answered “No, they are completely out of touch from reality.”

Meanwhile, 36 percent of respondents responded with “Yes, they are absolutely necessary for students.”

An additional 25 percent stated they were “Indifferent.”

There you have it.

Current college students, the ones who would be using safe spaces the most, are in a virtual deadlock over the formation of safe spaces on campus.

Of course, the quarter of respondents that have no strong feelings either way make up a significant portion, as well. So, it could be said that many students simply do not care about safe spaces in the same way that the political pundits and university presidents do.

What can be taken from this poll?

The most important thing to be taken from this survey is that students should be the ones deciding on whether or not a safe space will exist on their respective campus. If enough students want to form a safe space, then let them. If a vast majority of students at a school do not think a safe space is necessary, then do not form one.

Perhaps, college campuses should leave it up to a vote of students to decide whether or not a safe space will exist on their campus.

But, one thing is for certain, and that is that absolutely no one besides the students should be deciding on safe spaces on campus. Besides, chances are they do not even feel as strongly about the issue as the faculty and administration.

Methodology

The data LendEDU gathered for this report was licensed from polling company Whatsgoodly. In total, 1,659 current college students were asked to answer the following question truthfully: “Do you agree with college campuses establishing safe spaces?” This poll was conducted from May 5th, 2017 to May 11th, 2017. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that there are 20.5 million current college students in the United States. We estimate that our sample is representative of the population of college students with a margin of error of +-2.00%.

In his role at LendEDU, Mike uses data, usually from surveys and publicly-available resources, to identify emerging personal finance trends and tell unique stories. Mike’s work, featured in major outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, provides consumers with a personal finance measuring stick and can help them make informed finance decisions.

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